Short Bio:

After quitting my job in consulting, I travelled all throughout Asia for 4 months and that is howGoing Awesome Places began. I was looking for a way to share my experiences with my friends and family but soon found out that I was able to reach out to so many more people. Since then I’ve continued to travel and blog and it’s been an incredible journey every step of the way.

Interview Questions

Where are you now?

It’s funny you ask but I’m actually doing this interview from 10,000 feet in the air on my way from Toronto to Las Vegas.

How would you classify the type of travel you do (a backpacker, long term traveller, business traveller, live and work abroad)?

I would probably call myself a seasoned traveller

Can you tell us about your most recent trip and what brought you to this location?

I recently came back from a trip to China and had a great experience going to one of the country’s central hubs for history – Xi’an. You can read about the whole journey.

When did you start to travel and where did you first visit?

I started to travel at a young age. As a kid, I did a lot of travel within North America with my parents but typically it’d be on some sort of bus or on one of our many road trips. I started travelling on my own when I did an exchange semester in Sweden during university and that’s really when my passion for travel took off. The first place I went to as a kid that I can remember is Orlando when I was 5 years old.

What inspired you to travel? What people and places do you find most inspirational in travel and in life?

My biggest inspiration to travel is really the fact that the world is such a big place and that there’s so much to see. Doing those 4 months in Sweden, I came to the realization that if I wanted to put a dent in seeing every corner of the globe that I need to start working on it right away. What inspires me the most is that no matter where I go, humanity’s redeeming qualities are ever so present. Kindness, compassion, and love trumps all and when you encounter it on the road, it’s particularly special.

Why do you travel? Do you go places for tourism, business, adventure, or a mixture? We like to go places to experience culture and document the world through photography.

For me travel is all about new, wonderful, and sometimes crazy experiences. Travel is so addictive because I get to break out of the monotony of everything we know and are used to at home and get to do something totally unexpected and different on the road.

How long do you often stay in one place before heading to your next destination?

You typically won’t find me in one place for too long because I’ve never been able to travel without any time limits. As a result, I’m always trying to see as many places as I can.

What is your favorite means of transportation?

I love to fly. It’s really the only mode of transportation that allows me to cover great distances in short amount of time. There’s nothing else that can match that.

What is your favorite country to travel in and why?

New Zealand is definitely on the top of my favorite countries. The incredible Lord of the Rings landscape and Kiwi’s sense of adventure make it one of the best places to have “An unexpected journey”.

What are your favorite travel app(s)?

Despite being a tech guy, I actually don’t use a whole lot of apps when I travel. The problem with most apps is that they’re designed to be paired with data but most of the time I don’t travel with a data plan. As a result, the most useful apps for me are usually the free city or transit maps. If I’m travelling with a big group, an app like SplitWise is useful to keep track of expenses and tabs.

Top five items you can’t travel without:

Smartphone (Yeah I’m hooked)

Buff (Most versatile clothing accessory)

Camera (M43 is the way to go)

Sunglasses (Gotta have cool shades when you travel)

Rainbow flip flops (Best flip flops ever)

What aspect of traveling do you enjoy the most?

A lot of times what makes a really good trip is when there’s a lot of good food along the way. Japan was one of these trips. While the sights were amazing, at the end of the day, what put the biggest smile on my face was always the unique snacks I could try along the way and the incredible meals I had every day.

What do you like to bring back from the places that you’ve visited?

The one thing that I collect everywhere I go are magnets. I knew I had to pick one thing and magnets just seemed to make the most sense because they’re usually pretty small and not too expensive.

What are some of the unique foods that you have tried on your travels? Which were your favorites and which will you never try again?

Back in the day, I remember being shocked that squid ink was something you could have . While it was interesting and fun to make my lips black, I’m not sure if I’d have it again.

What is your best travel memory?

In recent years, I have to say that my trip to the Maldives with my girlfriend was epic on all levels. Thanks to my points I was able to make it happen but I’m really not sure if I’ll be able to repeat it again unless I somehow win the lottery.

Do you have any funny travel stories?

I have quite a few. One of them involves me being on a press trip to Quebec. We were snowshoeing one of their national parks, Monts-Valin. Deep in snow at the peak, most of the trail is well packed which made it easy to hike through. At one spot, I remember taking a step forward to grab a shot of the panorama when the snow completely caved beneath me, leaving me trapped in snow up to my waist. What made it hilarious was that there was a fellow journalist with me and instead of helping me, the first thing he did was pull out is phone to snap a photo. It was just too hilarious in the moment.

What are some of the challenges you have faced on your travels?

Language is always the biggest challenge when travelling to a non-English foreign country. You have to become really good at charades and sign language. It’s always a fun challenge.

I learned so much about blogging after 2 years and after getting so much support and help from the community, I wanted to find a way to give back. My goal with Travel Blog Breakthrough was to take all the little tricks I learned from Going Awesome Places and provide a platform for others to leverage to help them get to their breakthrough moment. Managing 2 blogs is definitely a big challenge. Already committing to 2 posts a week, I also write for Travel Blog Breakthrough once a week so you can imagine how busy it gets. What keeps me going is the amazing feedback I constantly get and the fact that I’m making a real difference whether it be folks doing research for their trip or a travel blogger wanting to learn and do a better job.

You interview so many amazing people on Travel Blog Breakthrough. What are your tips and tricks for getting these high profile interviews?

The secret to all of my guests has been to just ask. Just like how you asked me to be part of your blog’s interview series, I did the exact same thing with the Travel Blog Breakthrough podcast. I realized very early on that the worst that could happen was that I would get a “no” back.

What key advice would you give anyone wanting to travel the globe full time?

My biggest advice to anyone wanting to travel full time is to just take that leap of faith and make it happen. Leaving that comfortable job or lifestyle may seem like a big sacrifice but if your passion is travel, there’s no other feeling like being free of those golden handcuffs and live out your dream.

What are your future travel plans?

I am pretty excited about my upcoming trip to Europe in July where I’ll be participating in an Amazing Race for normal people. It’s run by a company called Competitours and I’ll be going with a good friend of mine to compete against 10 other teams on challenges all over Western Europe. I can’t wait!

“I literally sent for my things. I didn’t even come home to pack and that was in ’99. And I ended up staying there full-time until 2006.” – Scott Eddy discussing his arrival to Bangkok.

Our interview today is with the world traveler and entrepreneur, the one, the only, the amazing, Mr. Scott Eddy.

Scott is a self proclaimed ‘Digital Nomad’. He spends his time growing his presence on social media and helping other brands do the same. He is a public speaker and consultant for many high profile names. Scott has an enthusiastic personality and is an eternal optimist. Always looking for the silver lining in life, nothing seems to get him down. His energy is infective and his charisma makes you want to get out and see the world.

We thought Scott would be a perfect person to interview. He fits right into our idea of a Nomadic Lifestyle. He doesn’t own a house and travels the globe full time. Though he considers Thailand his home, he’s found himself living in awesome places such as the United Kingdom, Spain, the United States, and the Philippines.

The Call

We waited in anticipation as the minutes crept closer to 3:00pm. We would be conducting our interview of Mr. Scott Eddy in just a few minutes and the anticipation was starting to get to us. We were very excited to have the opportunity to get to know Scott face to face rather than through his Twitter profile.

Click. The clock crept closer to the time we agreed upon yesterday. We stared at the screen watching the pending Skype contact request with Mr. Eddy. Once the check box went green we knew we would be in and would be able to start picking his brain. In the age of the Internet and travel we would be meeting our newest interviewee not in person, but through a video chat. We had first heard about Scott and his amazing life on a podcast we follow by Will Tang from his page Travel Blog Breakthrough. Once we heard Scott talk we were hooked. He seemed approachable, friendly, and happy to meet new people.

A few days ago we started reaching out to more travelers for our next round of interviews to host here on the Nomadic Lifestyle. Something in the back of our minds told us to reach out to Scott. He may have 599,395 (at the time of writing) Twitter followers, but he’s still a person, right? What harm could come from a simple e-mail asking for an interview? We went to his site, www.mrscotteddy.com, and clicked to send him an e-mail. To our surprise we got a reply from the man himself just a few minutes later. He seemed excited to meet someone new and share his experiences. This was no normal high profile entrepreneur.

Delighted that we got through, we excitedly scratched out a few more back and forth e-mails working out how we could do our interview. We had some prepared questions to send over, but Scott insisted on a more personal questionnaire. We would meet up despite our geographic discrepancy, save some time, and really get to know one another.

The grey check box of a pending contact request suddenly turned green and Skype let us know that our new acquantiance was in San Fransisco, California ready to chat. We eagerly pressed the call button and waited a few rings. When Scott picked up we were delighted and surprised. Scott was walking around outside at 7:00am on the west coast USA. Again, this is no normal business man. At first we thought maybe he was busy and taking our interview on the road. That would be fine, but Scott seemed to have a different plan.

As we exchanged pleasantries we learned that he was walking around on the famous Fisherman’s Wharf Pier 39 with great view of Alcatraz and the Golden Gate Bridge. Scott was excited to show us his amazing view and panned his phone around to let us know what he was taking in. We even got to see some sea lions hanging around on the docks barking away at one another. “I just have to see the sunrise every morning”, Scott let us know. So here he was, the man who’s traveled around the world and made a successful living in the travel industry, just chatting with us while the sun came up in the morning.

The screen garbled and went blocky as the bits made their way from San Fransisco to Scotland. Finally, Scott found a nice spot to sit and enjoy his morning and our connection smoothed out. We felt like we had already made a great friend. And this is Scott’s real talent. He is excitable, charismatic, and open to new people. He’s the kind of person that you could imagine could sell a ketchup popsicle to a woman wearing white gloves. But, Scott doesn’t come off as one of those shrewd business types. Even after just a few minutes of back and forth conversation we were already having a great time.

We all started getting “down to business”, but it didn’t feel like a traditional interview. We prodded a few questions here and there and Mr. Eddy was all too willing to share his experiences. We were swept away and felt like we were having a real conversation with someone rather than a robotic back-and-forth Q&A session. It was great and we resolved to start getting to know more people during our travels. “It’s all about relationships”, Scott chimed in. The travel industry, or any industry really, is all about the people you know and the contacts you make. The traditional entrepreneurial model of building up a business, getting investors, making a product, and then getting your company linked to others is a broken model according to Scott. In the world we live in today it’s about who you are to other people. Build up your presence in the world and then launch your service or product. People follow who they know and understand.

Let’s back up a bit. Before we got on the idea of relationships we had to understand why relationships were so important to Scott. Towards the end of his high school career in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida Mr. Eddy was faced with the untimely death of his father, a local police detective. The event turned his life upside down, but he would take the lessons of life his father had instilled within him as he navigated through life. Instead of following the path he had originally planned, Scott trained to become a stockbroker. He learned the skills of the fast sell and made his living for ten years. But, this was not the fate of a “serial entrepreneur” and “digital nomad”. After an undesirable shift in the company he worked for Mr. Eddy took the advice of a friend and moved to Bangkok, Thailand to pursue a new life.

“First off you have to unlearn everything you learned in business because here its all about relationships.”

It was in Thailand that Scott learned the value of relationships. His skills as a broker and salesman as well as his natural charisma and sociability fit well in his new country. His friend told him to go out to events, meet people, and make friends. So, that’s exactly what Scott did. He went to club openings and got out on the street. “I met all of Thailand that way”, Mr. Eddy let us know. “The Thai people, Bangkok in particular, are some of the most social people on the planet”. He learned the power of getting to know others and letting them get to know him in return.

“I love developing new relationships…you can always replace money in the bank, you can never replace a good relationship.”

This social nature is precisely how he is so successful with Twitter. How did he amass such a following? One day at a time. “I feel like I’m stealing from myself when I don’t do it everyday”, he said when talking about managing Twitter. You see, Scott has a routine. He relies on consistency and hard work, a value that was instilled in him when he was young. Every single day whether Christmas or the middle of July Scott works to amass a following. He leverages the unlimited potential of the platform and follows those that would likely be interested in his ideals. Since Twitter is all about the conversation, many people will return the favor and follow back. After a few days if the favor hasn’t been returned, Scott will unfollow to free up some room for new contacts. And a favor is exactly how Scott sees it. When someone follows him he wants to follow back with every fibre of his being. He mentions that it’s why he doesn’t like Instagram and Facebook so much. Those services cap the number of followers that any one person can have. He is so social that he wants to be able to connect with every one and have them connect back in return.

At this point we had been talking for quite a while and without knowing it Scott was answering a bunch of our pre-written questions just through natural conversation.

What challenges do you face from being an expat?

“The big things are easy; it’s the little things that are hard”

Scott talked about how it’s easy to get around in the world and how friendly other people are to one another. But it’s the small things that you miss that can make living abroad difficult. “It’s hard missing friends and family back home. I miss watching every game of my Braves on TV”.

What is your best travel memory?

“When I first went to Thailand and realized how nice the people were overseas. Everyone says ‘Hello’ and if they bump into you in the street they’re very polite. They’ll give you a little head bow and apologize”.

It’s the people and the culture that we take away from our travels. Scott is very fond of Asia and its inhabitants saying that there’s a reason Thailand is such a hub for tourism and world travel. Plus, “Bangkok street food is awesome”.

So, you’re in San Fransisco working with a company called Destination Luxury. How did that relationship come about?

“I never spoke anywhere in my life…I went down there and I spoke in front of 6,500 people. That was my first speaking engagement.”

The short answer, “Twitter”. It’s all about the relationships. Scott was flown across the globe because of his presence on social media and his skills as a brand ambassador. It all started when he got a random request to be the keynote speaker at Malasia Social Media Week. He would be speaking in front of 6,500 people, but he had never done a public speaking engagement before. After some hesitation he figured, ‘why not?’ and took the gig. Despite not having slides like other speakers and being out of his element he astounded the crowd and received a standing ovation.

His experience speaking was the catalyst for the whole idea of social media exposure. If one random e-mail could bring so much why not get out there and see what else happens? That’s exactly what brought Scott to San Fransisco. He received an unsolicited message from the creator of a mobile travel search app called Zipkick. After talking with the twenty-something developer (and of course making a new friend) Scott was hooked on the idea. He agreed to help them launch their product and flew out to the city by the bay.

But, wait, what does this have to do with Destination Luxury? Again, it’s all about social media and relationships. While out at dinner with the Zipkick team Scott took a picture, put it up on Instagram, and tagged the restaurant. He got a message very shortly thereafter asking if he was still around the area and would like to go for a drink. “Yeah I’m still here. Sure I’ll go out for a drink. And, by the way, who are you?”. After a few minutes and messages the time and place was worked out, but again Scott asked “Who are you?”. Come to find out the man he was meeting for a drink was the owner of Destination Luxury and wanted to partner with Mr. Eddy on an upcoming event.

Scott is so likable, genuine, and sociable that he wanted to meet his new found Instagram friend even without knowing who he was meeting! That meeting worked out to be an opportunity to help promote the Coachella Valley Kickoff Party. He was even given a house to stay at in Palm Springs for his time there. Awesome!

The Bits Go Haywire

Unfortunately we were able to prove during our interview that the Internet is not yet perfect. Scott let us know that he had another engagement coming up and that we would have a few more minutes to talk to him. Just as we started gearing up for our finish the signal started to sputter and cut out. Our hearts skipped a little. We didn’t want our time to be done just yet. We waited the customary fifteen seconds or so before trying to call back. Skype notified us that our contact was busy. We thought, maybe he moved on to his other engagement? We waited a few more seconds and voila! a call back from Scott. We answered, but the signal was still choppy. We switched to voice only and had some more time to wrap up our conversation.

Scott got our hearts thumping and electrons firing. What is it about talking to exciting people that gets your blood pumping? We re-affirmed our want, our need, to travel. Thailand certainly went up a few notches on our list of places to visit. Scott was so excited to share and talk about his experiences and successes it got us wanting to do more. We wanted to see more and get out to meet new people.

It’s all about relationships.

The Lessons

Our time with Mr. Scott Eddy was great. Here are just a few of the things that we learned from our chat.

Know your numbers.

It’s one thing to have a presence, but it’s another to know your power. You should keep track of your social following. Know what works and doesn’t. Know how far your Tweets go and how many people are reading your blog. Having this information handy on the top of your head can really help you out when talking with other brands.

Twitter has unlimited potential, use it.

Twitter is the only social platform out there that lets you connect to an infinite audience. Through hard work you can amass a Twitter following and readily connect with the world.

Facebook groups are the real power of the platform. Get involved.

Though Facebook is more limited than other platforms it’s the social media giant and you need a presence. Growing a brand on Facebook is more difficult as it is usually ‘Pay to Play’. You’re fighting Facebook’s algorithm to get your content on other user’s timelines. However, you can make a more personal connection and grow a more organic following through groups. Get out there and get connected with like minded people.

Scott is aggressive in his outreach. Love him or hate him. He doesn’t like the people on the fence. He’d rather have a flat out ‘No’ than a ‘Maybe’.

“I want the evangelists”, Scott told us. He would rather have people that are all in than those that flitter around the edges. He’s very direct and that trait has helped him carve a niche for his business and brand. Love him or hate him. We’ll go with the former.

When traveling, the big things are easy; it’s the little things that can be hard.

This is a lesson that we’ve learned ourselves in just a short time traveling. All of those big fears that you may have had before a major journey seem to melt away. How will I work out money in other countries? What about languages? Is this country safe? What if I get sick? All of these questions seems to just work themselves out and you find your pattern just like back home. However, it’s the little things that you miss that can really make world travels difficult. There is no replacement for family and there are some things that you just can’t get overseas.

It’s all about the brand. Brand growth comes from hard work and consistency.

Just like he learned from his upbringing, hard work pays off. Be straight with people and treat others with respect. Put in the work to your blog, brand, business, and life and you’ll find that the payoffs come in the end. Keep up with it and don’t burn out. Too many people start off strong, but taper away at the end. Success is achieved through consistency.

The Wrap Up

If our time with Scott got your gears turning and you’d like to know more, be sure to check out Scott on the web. We’re sure he’ll be just as excited to get to know you as he was for us. Scott prides himself on ‘connecting the dots’ and bringing relationships together.

Was there anything we missed or other awesome travelers that you would like to see interviewed here? Please let us know in the comments or through Facebook or Twitter. Like Scott, we’d love to hear from you!

One of our primary goals for sharing our journey through The Nomadic Lifestyle is to inspire and encourage others to travel. Recently, we’ve had the pleasure of talking to other travelers and travelers to be. One such would be traveler is Sydney Kathryn. She runs a wonderful site to share her passions about travel, fashion, and photography. We thought it would be great to share her story with everyone to show that we’re not the only ones around bit by the travel bug 😉

So, without further adieu here is our guest post from Sydney.

My name is Sydney and I write the blog discoversupplement.com. As this is The Nomadic Lifestyle, let’s talk about travel. I have been planning my own travels for I don’t even know how long. I find means to feed my hunger for exploration through books, websites, YouTube videos, anything I can get my hands on to escape from my small town in Connecticut, even just for a few moments. I don’t even have a passport, nope. It is just one of those things that you nag and nag your parents to drive you to the post office or even just fill out the paper work, but everyone is “just too busy right now”. My feet have never touched ground unattached to North America; I think about that a lot. Sometimes I contemplate just laying out on the grass and feeling the vibrations of the earth below me, knowing that they are isolated to my continent, my home… for now anyway. I want new ground to walk on, new vibrations to stir my soul. I’m determined to experience culture and learn the stories of others all around the world, and determination can get you very far, hopefully as far as Europe, Australia, Africa and every other continent. I believe that the want to connect with others across the globe and see the entire world we have been abruptly placed on is innate, living and feeding a spark within all of us. Angela and Chris have only heightened my itch to explore, their story is absolutely insane- I love it!

For now, I’m on a mission to discover new ideas from the comfort of the trusty keyboard and glowing screen of my laptop as I express my passions of photography, world issues, style and writing; it’s an unlikely cocktail that just seems to work for me and hopefully my readers too. Even in the short time that it has existed, my pixelated creative outlet has brought greater meaning to my life and what it means to be a citizen of a global community and becoming a catalyst for positive change in our society.

We had the privilege to interview popular travel blogger from That Backpacker, Audrey Bergner. When she was just eighteen she started traveling seriously around the globe. Today she holds 40+ countries under her belt and continues to travel the world and document her wanderings on her site. Through her blog she documents her many travels with a tagline Food, Culture, Adventure. Keep reading below to find out more about Audrey, her experiences and where she is headed next.

Audrey in Vietnam

Basic Info

Short Bio:

Hi there! I’m Audrey and I’m a traveller, blogger, and YouTuber with an insatiable desire to explore the world. I’ve climbed volcanoes in Indonesia, bathed elephants in Northern Thailand, trekked through remote villages in Vietnam, battled zombies in Chicago, and slept in a jail hotel in Finland. I go in search of unusual places with one-of-a-kind stories and document the experience on my blog and on YouTube.

Interview Questions

Where are you now?

Canada for a few more days.

How long do you stay in one place before heading to your next adventure?

It depends on where I am. When I was travelling in Southeast Asia I found myself spending 1 month in each country and covering a lot of destinations along the way. I prefer slow travel, but that doesn’t stop me from hopping borders every once in a while.

What is your favorite means of transportation?

Train.

How many continents have you visited?

All except Antarctica!

How many countries have you visited?

Somewhere around 40.

What is your favorite country to travel in and why?

This is always a hard one to answer! Some really memorable ones include Vietnam, Jordan, Turkey, Australia, and Brazil – mainly for their striking landscapes.

What are your favorite travel app(s)?

I like having a good translating app for the country I’m visiting. GoogleMaps is also great for finding your way.

Top five items you can’t travel without:

camera, chapstick, notebook, phone and laptop. I know I listed a lot of technology, but I have to be able to document the trip.

What inspired you to travel?

I think what drove me to travel was curiosity. Curiosity about people, places, and their traditions.

You traveled to some places with some unique cuisine. What are some of the unique foods that you have tried? Which were your favorites and which will you never try again?

One of the most unique meals I had was zarb – a Jordanian barbecue that’s cooked in the sand. It was really cool watching the meal be dug out from the ground and it was delicious! As for foods I’d be happy to never taste again, that goes to salmiakki – a salty, black liquorice that’s really popular in Finland.

What is your best travel memory?

Camping out with Bedouins in the middle of the Jordanian desert.

What are some of the challenges you have faced on your travels?

Oh, there have been a lot of bloopers. Forgotten wallets, credit cards eaten by the ATM, train derailments in the middle of the jungle…

What have you learned about people and yourself from your travels?

I’ve learned that I’m tougher than I think, and that people are kinder than we believe.

On your About page on your blog you said that you grew up traveling but started doing so seriously when you turned eighteen. Where did you go and why did you choose this place to start your travels?

Being a university student gave me a lot of free time (Christmas Break, Reading Week, Summer Break, etc.) so I started saving my money to travel any chance I could. This was my first taste of real travel and it got me hooked. A few of the places I travelled to while in university include: India, England, Spain, France, Germany, Switzerland, Brazil, Argentina, Peru, and Cuba. I’m not kidding when I say I made the most of every break.

I see that you have a YouTube Channel called Sam and Audrey that you manage with your husband, Nomadic Samuel. Did you start your travels with Sam or did you meet on the go?

We actually met while we were both working as ESL teachers in South Korea. We spent a year getting to know each other better and taking a few little trips around the country, and then once we both finished our contracts we decided to go backpacking around Southeast Asia.

What key tip would you give anyone wanting to travel the globe full time?

Travelling and blogging full-time is quite the balancing act. You’ll need to be self-driven, innovative, flexible, and a master multitasker. It’s not all daisies and roses, but it is a pretty amazing job and I wouldn’t want to be doing anything else.

Where are you headed next?

Peru, South Africa, and Germany are up!

Wrap Up

Audrey was a great person to have interviewed. We are very grateful that she took the time out of a busy schedule to answer some of our questions. Her answers show us that determination can go far in helping us reach our goals. She made the most of every opportunity to go somewhere unique and continues to inspire us by visiting some breathtaking locations. She certainly has inspired me to plan my next trip (apparently I need to start looking into the Jordanian desert). 🙂

Let us know what you think of Audrey and all of our interviews in the comments below. Is there anyone that you would love to see interviewed here? What burning questions do you have for our would be interviewees?